DIB# 44-20

OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY EXTENSION

Four Management Practices to Manage 
Milk Yield in Dairy Herds
Gustavo M. Schuenemann, DVM, MS, PhD. Professor, Dairy Cattle Health and Management, Department of 
Veterinary Preventive Medicine, The Ohio State University

Because of the COVID19 pandemic, milk demand has
shifted due to closures of restaurants and other
events (e.g., hotels, airports, conferences);
consequently, dairy farms were asked to reduce milk
yield to match market demand with supply. This
article describes four management practices to
quickly reduce milk yield without neglecting animal
welfare (https://www.dcwcouncil.org/node/4006),
and avoiding negative long‐term effects on milk
yield. To address these potential negative effects, the
lactation curve was divided in two periods (Figure 1):
1) Pre‐peak: There are potential benefits associated
with cow health, but there is also a negative carry‐
over effect on milk yield by reducing peak milk; thus,
the entire lactation persistency may be impacted.
Pre‐Peak: Health,
Carry over effect
120
110
100
Milk Yield (Lbs/d)
2) Post‐peak: There are some potential benefits on
udder health by reducing milk yield at the end of
lactation, but there is also a risk for excess
condition on cows (fat cows).
1) Reducing Daily Milking Frequency
Reducing the milking frequency from 3x to 2x,
reduces milk yield by 8 to 10%. A study showed that
there are health benefits {increased blood glucose
and reduced blood β‐hydroxybutyrate (BHB)} and
increased cyclicity by milking 2x per day as opposed
to 3x per day for the first 30 days in milk (DIM)
followed by 3X until the end of lactation.
When reducing milking frequency from 3x to 1x, the
overall milk yield would be reduced about 40 to
Post‐Peak: Fat cows, 50%. Based on previous personal field experience
Udder health when switching from 3x to 1x per day for two
consecutive weeks to update/renovate an existing
milking parlor, it takes over 45 days or longer to
recover prior milk yield.

90 Considerations: Restricting access to feed and/or

80
70
water is not an acceptable management practice
60 because it violates one of the animal welfare
50 freedoms (freedom from thirst and hunger). Each
40
30
farm should review and adjust the feeding program
20 Lact=1 Lact=2 Lact=3+ when changing milking frequency to avoid increased
10 feed waste at the bunk and/or over‐conditioned
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
cows in late lactation. Reducing milking frequency
Monthly DHI Tests almost always frees up labor that could be used in
other areas of the farm (e.g., cleaning, catch‐up
Figure 1. Schematic representation of mean lactation curves from lactating with maintenance, maternity, etc.).
Holstein cows. First lactation cows (Lact=1), second (Lact=2) and third or
greater lactations (Lact=3+). 2. Extending Days Dry

In the US, average days dry is 55 days, ranging from 42

to 65 days. Increasing the dry period by 14 days (drying
cows earlier), total herd milk yield would drop about 3%.

dairy.osu.edu

Herd A
Herd B
Figure 2. Schematic representation of the pattern of previous dry
period lengths in two different dairy herds. The overall proportion of
cows with >70 days dry is 55% in herd A while in herd B is 20%.
This management approach could be applied in Herd B
(20% of cows >70 days) but not in herd A (55% of cows
with >70 days dry; Figure 2). Another alternative is to
change the feeding management and/or milking
frequency 1 week prior to drying cows off: 1) Changing
to a dry cow ration 1 week prior to dry‐off, milk yield
per cow would drop about 60% and 2) Changing to 1x
milking frequency (instead of 2x or 3x) 1 week prior to
dry‐off, milk yield per cow would drop about 38%.
These two management alternatives to reduce milk
yield 1 week prior to drying cows off have potential
milk quality benefits by reducing the risk of
intramammary infection.
Considerations: Dairy cows with >70 days dry have
greater risk for metabolic problems during the
transition period {increased non‐esterified fatty acids
(NEFA) prepartum and BHB postpartum}. To avoid
increasing the proportion of over‐conditioned cows
prepartum (BCS > 4.0) due to extended days dry and
metabolic problems early in lactation, you would need
to assess the pattern of days dry in your herd (it should
look like Herd B with only 20% of cows >70 days dry
(Figure 2). Jersey and jersey‐crossed cows and older
cows are more likely to experience more metabolic
issues with extended days dry; thus, increasing the risk
for culling .
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Four Management Practices to Manage Milk Yield in
Dairy Herds —page 2
3) Increasing Whole Milk Feeding to Pre‐Weaned 
Calves
Feeding 2.5 gal/day of milk reduced health risk,
increased body weight gain of pre‐weaned
replacement heifers, and lifetime performance
compared to heifers fed 1.3 gal/day. For a typical
herd, feeding 2.5 gal/day to calves for 60 days would
reduce annual milk sold by 2.3%. Feeding 2.5 gal/day
for 90 days, total milk in the bulk tank would be
reduced 3.6%. For a 600‐cow herd (~1.6 births/day;
50% female), you would be feeding 50 calves for 60
days x 2.5 gal/day = 125 gal/day. For 90 days, you
would be feeding 72 calves for 90 days x 2.5 gal/day =
180 gal/day. Assuming 13.5% total solids (3.5% Fat
and 3.1% Protein), 2.5 gal of whole milk would
provide enough nutrient to grow at a rate of ~1.9
lb/day. Considerations: Feeding large volumes of milk
would require an extra feeding time (from 2x to 3x
per day), thus additional labor.
4) Culling cows
Removal of cows from the herd may not be an option
for some dairy herds with current COVID‐19 issues
because of closure of slaughter plants. Each dairy
farm is unique, and you would need to develop your
own priority list for culling, but below is a possible
priority list:
1. Chronic mastitis: Cows with ≥3 clinical cases
(Grade 2 to 3) within a lactation.
2. Lameness: Cows with score of >3 (using 5‐point
scale).
3. Reproduction: Open cows with 8 or more services
(repeat breeders).
4. Health events: Cows experiencing ≥3 events
within the first 30 DIM (e.g., ketosis + metritis +
displaced abomasum; dystocia + ketosis +
metritis). Lactating cows experiencing ≥3 health
disorders have increased risk of culling within 60
DIM compared to cows without health events.
5. Milk yield: Removal of lactating cows with
reduced milk yield by stage of lactation (bottom
10 to 15% of milking herd). These are likely cows
with poor udder conformation or milk yield
relative to dry matter intake.
Published May 2020.